Thursday, October 30, 2008

You are getting sleepy... very sleepy... the only sound you can hear is my voice... or the voice in your head that reads this blog to you... sleep... your eyes are heavy...

So I am shooting a short this weekend. I am stoked about it. It is a short story by Les McGehee. I am shooting it with some uber-talented and fun people from Kat's class that I met. It should be a good party. Coordinating schedules has been challenging, but nothing too bad. I am stoked about making it.

I am also pumped for Halloween tomorrow. Megan and I worked on our costumes tonight. Mine is fun. I am pumped to post pictures (and maybe a video of it).

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Tucson, Arizona, is home to one of the finest dive bars in history: The Buffet. It is a cornucopia of people, smells and noise that can only be summarized by two words: "Holy shit."

During my undergrad days, I spent many a night at the Buffet with my buddy Darrell. I am sure my name is carved in something wooden there. I have eaten a hot dog there. I have drank way too many $2 Jumbos there. I have had forgettable experiences trying to go to the bathroom there. But most of all, I had fun there.

I sang karaoke with my friend, Meg Hartig, at a place called Beerland in Austin, TX. I had heard of Beerland, but never been there. I loved it. It was laid back... almost empty. The guy DJ'ing the karaoke was badass. He was funny, but not cheesy. He was a guy making obscure musical references and making-fun of the people singing, including me. I sang a song that Meg picked... I can't remember the name, but it rocked despite the fact I was singing it.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Today's Picture:There is NOTHING bad about the above costume. In fact, that costume is BADASS. I would love to dress up like Strong Bad from the HomestarRunner.com. That is so great.

I am stoked about Halloween this year. I am loving my costume this year. You will have to wait until next Monday to see the video of me in my costume. But, loyal blog readers, I will not disappoint you.

This past weekend was good. I watched a bunch of football & story-boarded. I also took it easy. I think when my body forced me to pee a pebble, it was trying to tell me to take it easy. My body was also telling me I needed some exercise. I went for a walk with Megan around Town Lake on Sunday. That was nice.

Last weekend I took it slow. Next weekend, I am going to take it fast. Halloween. Hooray. Halloween is my favorite holiday. Also, I am shooting a short movie at my house. It is a story by my friend Les. It is not a comedy this time, just a story. It will be funny, but not like stuff I have done in the past. It is a short. I am stoked about making it.

About 1 AM Tuesday morning (Monday night), I woke up with terrible lower back pains. It was not a muscular pain, it was internal. I jumped on www.WebMD.com and started researching. About the time I found "kidney stones", the pain was unbearable. I woke Megan up (out of a dead sleep) and told her I was going to drive myself to the ER. She was so out of it, I don't think she understood what I was saying. I drove myself to the ER. Once I checked-in and they brought me back, I immediately found the nearest bathroom and started vomiting. I felt like I had to pee, but I couldn't. 2 IVs, a thing of morphine and a CT-scan later, the doctor found (drum-roll please) KIDNEY STONES!!! The doctor said that "some women" have said kidney stones were more painful than child birth. I find it hard to believe. Thanks to #1) me being unable to birth due to my male genitalia and #2) the morphine, I will never have an idea if child birth is more painful. But I know kidney stones hurt like a mo-fo.

After I went to the hospital & got some drugs in me, I barely felt anything. Megan came to the hospital about 30 minutes after I checked-in (just in time for me to hurl in the toilet). She drove me home and we left one car at the hospital. The doctor told me to stay home from work (yes!) and drink lots of water.

Now, I am almost 100% fine. No problems. I have an appointment with a urologist next week. But the REALLY good news: I am no longer peeing pebbles. I went back to work today.

So that is my kidney stone story. It sucked.

I would like to thank Scott Chester for my new nickname: BB Gun. That made me laugh pretty hard.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

City number two on the Ben Bartley Tour 2008 was Tucson, Arizona. Why did I go to Tucson, Arizona? I went to see these two lovely people get married:

The above people are Darrell and Jennifer. They got married on Saturday, October 11th at Z Mansion in downtown Tucson, Arizona. I know what you are thinking, "what do these 2 look like from the back?" They look like this:

I know you are also wondering, "what do Darrell and Jennifer's mothers look like?" I have answered that question, too:

Now you are probably wondering "what would the ceremony would look like if no one showed up?". It would have looked like this:

Darrell was an Resident Assistant at the University of Arizona at the same time as me. We worked in different dormitories, but we became friends because of our mutual love of 1) home-brewing and 2) University of Arizona athletics. Darrell and I's primary watering hole was the Buffet while in Tucson. If you have never been to the Buffet, you are missing out. $2 Coors drafts (called Jumbos), $1 Happy Minute and enough colorful characters to fill a Time Life special.

Darrell and I have a terrible streak going: we have never been to an Arizona football victory together. We have traveled to Oregon, Penn State and Wisconsin together. We lost all of those games, but still had a blast.

Darrell and Jen's wedding was awesome. They had a beautiful outdoor ceremony, an awesome meal, a mariachi band and a hot dog truck. Yes, a hot dog truck. But it was not just any hot dog truck, it was a Sonoran-style Hot Dog truck. I had never eaten a Sonoran-style hot dog before, but I guarantee I will try to find one every time I am in Tucson. A Sonoran-style hot dog is a hot dog wrapped in bacon, covered in mayo, pico-de-gallo, jalapenos, cheese and some other stuff I can not remember. It was great.

I was invited to stand-up for Darrell at his wedding. That was a great honor. It also meant I got to dust-off my wedding tuxedo. It fit like a glove... still got it. You know who else wore a tuxedo? This guy:Darrell Bobbitt, looking sharp.

Here is a picture of (right to left) Fred (Megan's dad), Susan (Megan's mom), Megan and I at Darrell's reception. Megan's parents live in Tucson, so we stayed at their house.

And here is a picture of me... damn, I am handsome.Megan was stunning, if I do say so myself.

Darrell and Jennifer - I will see you at Thanksgiving. Get ready for the Bayles-Family-Poker-Tournament. Susan is a high-roller.

Darrell - Arizona loses at Stanford when we are together. Arizona beat Cal as soon as we were in different cities. Arizona's short comings at football are clearly our fault.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

I am finally catching-up with my blogging. I am a little behind because of all the travels. But I have some great pictures from my various trips. First up: SEATTLE!

So the guy above, I don't know. But the guys below, I do know:

The guys above are Tyler (on the left) and Sherwin (on the right). Tyler is an old friend of Megan's from back in her University of Washington days. Tyler and Sherwin were the reason Megan and I flew to Seattle 2 weekends ago. Tyler and Sherwin got "mary'd" on October 5th in downtown Seattle. It was a lovely ceremony with friends and family. It was a weekend of partying and awesome food. Seriously, I had the best steak I can remember at a place called Tavalota's (I think). Either the steak was really good or the 5th Stone IPA I was drinking made everything taste so damn good. Either way, it was a great time and a great meal.

While in Seattle, I got to meet Megan's friend Mary. Megan used to babysit for her kids. We had dinner and lovely conversation. Mary is a blast.

We also got to hang out with one of my favorite people, Haleigh!That is Haleigh and I... damn, we look good. Haleigh can put away the Stone IPA, too. According to multiple eye-witnesses (Megan and Haleigh), after drinking 5 or 6 beers, I examined the art hanging in our hotel room and told Haleigh the art looked like a vagina.

Clearly, I have never seen a vagina before (besides my own).

The art in our hotel room was "Dogs Playing Poker". No, actually, the art was some abstract oil-on-canvas for which I have little appreciation. I have no recollection of saying the art looked like a vagina, but it does sound like something I would say after consuming 8 Stone IPAs.

After further (sober) review, the art looked more like a dog under a blanket.

Here is a picture of Megan and Haleigh's feet. Megan in black shoes with red polish, Haleigh in red shoes with black polish. I liked how they were like photo-negatives of each others feet.

I also got to hang out with my brother-in-law, Freddie. Freddie is a good, solid dude. Freddie works for a commercial real estate developer in Seattle. I had a blast going to the Fox Sports bar and playing 2 games of pool. I let him win both games. Freddie - I want a re-match at Thanksgiving.

Freddie bought a sweater from a guy that reminded me of Jack from Will & Grace. The guy would not stop talking.

Seattle was great. I am lucky to have a pretty good tour-guide, pictured below:

Thursday, October 2, 2008

I took Megan to the airport this morning. She made it to Seattle, no problems. I am bach-ing it for the next 2 days. In honor of being a bachelor for the next 2 days, I am walking around in my underwear in the house... wait, that is what I do when I'm married, too.

I spoke to my sister Jodi today. That is always fun. She is getting ready to go to China. She is presenting at a conference. She flies from Chicago to Beijing. Hello sleeping pills.

I watched the VP debate tonight. I wasn't really moved by it until the end. When Biden and Palin's family came on stage and they were mingling, I loved that part. It was very human and sweet. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall of those conversations between their families. It was really cool and I am glad the networks stayed with it. I am also glad that there were no fist fights.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

For about the first time since before my wedding anniversary (September 18th), I feel like I got a full night's sleep. I went to bed at around 10:30 PM last night. That is the earliest I have gone to bed in several weeks. My body was feeling it. I was beat. I have been fighting colds since my wedding anniversary (September 18th, for those playing at home).

Last night, I crashed. I think I had a bunch of dreams. I can not remember them too vividly... I know there were some dreams that I woke-up from thinking, "wow, that was just like real-life". But I have no idea what I was dreaming about.

In other news, this kid looks like Phil Donahue:

I forgot to blog about seeing Bill Murray. He was the special guest at the closing night of Fantastic Fest. This is what he looks like now:It was sweet. He was here with the directory of his new film, "City of Ember". The movie was interesting.

I think everyone in the room was in awe of (or mildly intimidated by) Bill Murray. Rightfully so, Bill Murray is a big f-ing deal. The man is a Ghostbuster! He was on SNL! He is BOB (from What About Bob)! Ground Hog Day! The guy is a legend.

When they opened it for questions, it was really quiet. To prove (to myself) I was not scared, I asked the first one. I said, "Bill, if the Chicago Cubs win the World Series, how do you plan to celebrate?" He said he was going to cry. It made everyone laugh and I think it loosened up the room a little. A bunch of questions were asked after that. People asked if there was going to be a Ghost Busters 3. He said that he thinks the scars have healed from Ghost Busters 2. He also mentioned that the guys from The Office might be writing a script for Ghost Busters 3. How sweet is that?